Son of Elsewhere

Praise

“Funny and frank, delivered in such a generous spirit that almost any reader is bound to be won over.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times

“I remember the day Elamin Abdelmahmoud told me he was writing a book called Son of Elsewhere; just the title broke my heart and somehow still drew me in. Abdelmahmoud is one of our generation’s most gifted and emotional writers. He takes us on a fascinating journey of self-discovery, from an awkward adolescent immigrant boy trying to fit in to a courageous young man struggling to carve out an identity of his own without severing his roots. Abdelmahmoud reminds us that, while his story is uniquely his own, we can all learn something about ourselves in ‘The Elsewhere.’”—Brandi Carlile, Grammy Award–winning artist and New York Times bestselling author of Broken Horses
 
“Son of Elsewhere is a profound, tender collection of stories that speaks to those who exist in and out of liminal spaces. It’s a narrative that forces readers to interrogate Blackness beyond American borders, American exceptionalism at the expense of Black and Brown people, and identity between separate languages. Abdelmahmoud is a skillful cartographer of place, architecture, and human emotion, blending them together so effortlessly that one will walk away from this debut seeing the symphony—and collision—in the mundane and the extraordinary. With this book, Abdelmahmoud announces that he is here and we should be so thankful for that.”—Morgan Jerkins, New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing, Wandering in Strange Lands, and Caul Baby

“It is astounding how accurately and honestly Elamin Abdelmahmoud manages to map the strange territory between cultures that so many migrants call home. The interlinked essays in this collection, which filter the immigrant experience through everything from country music to professional wrestling fan fiction, manage to pull off a rare trick—at once sincere, ironic, hilarious and profound. Son of Elsewhere is the sort of book that can only come from a writer both incisive and open-hearted. Abdelmahmoud, to our great fortune, is both.”—Omar El Akkad, Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author of What Strange Paradise and American War

“Son of Elsewhere is marvelous and wise and fascinating. Like a conversation with one of your smartest friends, Elamin Abdelmahmoud offers a unique perspective that feels both familiar and challenging. It’s a privilege to read.”—R. Eric Thomas, bestselling author of Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America

“Elamin Abdelmahmoud’s Son of Elsewhere achieves what all nonfiction work should: a unique type of universality. His writing feels like a magic trick—every page is charming, funny, and yet painful, a collection that presses on your most tender feelings, like a bruise yet to heal.”—Scaachi Koul, author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

“Hilarious and somber, introspective and rollicking, this search for self is breathtakingly original.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)